The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation

Book Description

How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself with the master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.

Download Description

Manufacturers around the world have learned much from Japanese manufacturing techniques. However, any company that wants to compete on knowledge must also learn from Japanese techniques of knowledge-creation. Managers at Japan's most successful companies recognize that creating knowledge is not simply a matter of processing objective information. Rather, it depends on tapping the tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions, and ideals of employees.

Customer Reviews:

Not even worth one star.......2005-11-21

I was very disappointed by this book. Not only was it painful to read, because it dragged on and was full of academic nonsense, the authors views were also unconvincing and based on old research.

This book is outdated and not relevant to the way Japan is today. The authors use a lot of research and examples from the 80s and even the 70s. They make the claim that Japanese firms experienced a lot of success in the late 70s and 80s because of their superior ability to "create knowledge." They seem to be in complete denial that Japan's economic bubble had anything to do with this "success" that they are talking about. Also, the book was written over 10 years ago, before the financial crisis and before people realized that a lot of this so-called success was just cooked in the books by accountants.

They do give some reasonable examples of knowledge creating firms that are successful, but that's all they are, just a few examples and not an accurate representation of the whole picture of Japanese Management. Also, most of the examples are of Japanese manufacturing firms. What about the service sector? Suspiciously they did not use examples of companies from Japan's service sector, which are extremely inefficient and not the text book perfect examples of successful "knowledge creating" firms.

The theories and models in this book are a bunch of overly abstract vague pretentious academic nonsense. The real life examples are so nebulously related to the theories and models that most successful (or unsuccessful) companies can be used as examples.

If you want to read a bunch of nonsense based on old research with the names of Harvard professors and some philosophy thrown in to make the nonsense seem legit and intelligent, then by all means, read this book. But if you are like me and want to learn about Japanese management, don't waste your time or money on this book.

BEWARE! Digital version is only a 10 page summary!.......2004-03-16

Don't get caught like I did.

From information-processing machine to knowledge-creating co.......2002-08-28

This book is the classic in the organizational learning approach. But it¡¯s more than that. This book is not about lean production or Japanese kaizen system, but about how to enhance a firm¡¯s adaptability to turbulent environment through knowledge creation. with suggesting new concept of knowledge-creation as the tangible base of organizational capabilities or innovation, this book serves as the bridge between organizational learning school and resource-capabilities view.
As the being to survive in environment, the firm processes signals or information from environment. Knowledge is the framework to process info to interpret the state of environment. Up to 1980s, the company was viewed as information-processing machine. Indeed, firm is the flow of information. That kind of view has been justified against the business reality. Actually, it¡¯s the very picture of bureaucratic organization which culminated in GM¡¯s M-form model. Here, CEO like Jack Welch is the hero. Such an organization is effective when the environment is stable and predictable. But since 1970s, things have changed. Uncertainties have been amplified with the hypercompetition on global scale. Now the framework to interpret the signal from environment, itself should incessantly and systemically be adapted to turbulent reality. Knowledge and innovation have come the words of the day. Not surprisingly, there has been growing dissatisfaction with traditional organizational structure. Kao¡¯s CEO, Maruta put it in this way: ¡®The intelligence of a firm does not come from the president nor top management. That must come from the gathering of all knowledge of all members.¡¯ This book is about to how to build organization as the effective innovation site. To do so, all the available knowledge in and out of company should be able to be mobilized and freely flow throughout the firm. For instance, front line employees are constantly in direct touch with the outside world. They can obtain access to the up-to-date info on the market, technology, or competitors. But their knowledge is, in most cases, not able to be expressed in explicit way. Generally, it¡¯s the tacit knowledge. But to survive more and more intensified competition, the firm should be apt to mobilizing their tacit knowledge. To achieve such a goal, task force or bottom-up organizational model emerged. In those model, the creative knowledge worker, in Peter Drucker¡¯s term, is the hero. But in those models, knowledge tends to be confined to narrow front line, and comes and goes with creative employees. And worse, the firm can¡¯t react as an efficient unit to threats from environment. As a result, innovation is the haphazard event. So there should be some integrating mechanism like hierarchy. To be efficient unit, knowledge should flow all over the company. Here, authors rediscover the significance of middle managers. They play the role of midwife and amplifier of knowledge from front line employees and between various divisions in the firm. They coordinate the flow of knowledge and maintain the firm as a coherent knowledge-creating unit. In short, the firm should be organized as the melting pot of member¡¯s knowledge. Authors take examples from Japanese firms to illustrate what¡¯s like such a site.

A look at knowledge creation.......2001-11-26

I came to this book through a reference in Novak & Gowin. What caught my eye was that someone was willing to talk about an epistemological stance other than the analytic, reductionist view held in science. For the most part, I found this book's understanding of Western epistemology to be reasonable; I can't speak for the Japanese epsitemology cited. What interested me, and for which I recommend the book, is their view of knowledge creation. The case studies lend weight to their view, but they do explicate a possible model for turning subjective knowledge into explicit knowledge. They suggest a management model for making it happen. The book is very well written and edited.

I believe the book needs a very careful read *outside* the business community. I would put this book down as the business version of Feynman's *The Character of Natural Law*.

An essential book on knowledge management.......2001-09-28

This is perhaps one of the most important books presently available on knowledge management. The authors demonstrate how 'knowledge' is vital to innovation within Japanese firms, with clear distinction made between 'tacit' and explicit' knowledge. An effort is made to distinguish the differences between Japanese and Western firms through an emphasis on the importance of 'tacit' knowledge and a 'middle-up-down' management process. Other than Chapter 2 (a review of philosophical background relating to epistemology which might put some readers off), this book has minimal jargons and complexities and would be an easy and enjoyable read even for non-academics. The arguments presented by the authors are well-illustrated with relevant industrial examples. Overall, this is a book that not only brings a new perspective to knowledge management but also raises questions for the ardent researchers who might ponder over its relevance to non-Japanese firms.

Designing Dynamic Organizations: A Hands-On Guide for Leaders at All Levels

Average customer rating:

Great. Easy to read.
A managment essential

Designing Dynamic Organizations: A Hands-On Guide for Leaders at All Levels
Jay Galbraith , Diane Downey , and Amy Kates
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process Revised
Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture
Designing the Customer-Centric Organization: A Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series)
Designing Organizations to Create Value: From Strategy to Structure
Organizational Design: A Step-by-Step Approach

ASIN: 0814471196

Book Description

Which business structures are best suited to the unpredictable 21st century? How can a company, division, or department reconfigure itself with minimum disruption and maximum impact? Every executive grapples with problems of restructuring--and most need hands-on guidance to solve them. This eye-opening book shows business leaders at all levels how to examine their choices by leading them systematically through these fundamental questions:

* Should we restructure to meet our strategic goals? * What are the best structural options to achieve our success? * What lateral processes are necessary to support the new structure? * How do we staff the restructured organization to optimize results?

Based on Galbraith's world-renowned approach, this guide includes examples and worksheets that pilot readers through the essential steps of organizational design.

Customer Reviews:

Great. Easy to read........2007-08-05

Easy to read. Great format and approach to the book. Love the designs for how to approach the work at the end of each chapter. A great took as an HR / OD person.

A managment essential.......2004-03-02

This book is a basic for those wishing to compose and maintain a dynamic vital organization. Highly reccomended for middle level and upper managers. You will refer to it constantly.

Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

Average customer rating:

If You're Jumping Ship from ACT!, this is for you !

Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))
Karen S. Fredricks , and Lon Orenstein
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

E-mail | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Scheduling & E-mail | Microsoft | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Outlook 2007 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
Managing Contacts with MS Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager
Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized (Inside Out) (Inside Out)
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Inside Out
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))

ASIN: 0470107898

Book Description

Keep track of customers, coordinate projects, and implement initiatives

The fun and easy way(r) to put BCM to work and make more money in less time

Looking to make the most of Business Contact Manager? This nuts-and-bolts guide gets you up and running with this powerful software in no time. You'll take advantage of the latest features -- from customizing fields to integrating with Office Accounting -- to keep your business operating smoothly. Create quotes, orders, and invoices in a flash so you can focus on sales!

Discover how to:

* Create and manage a database
*

Organize your day
*

Share data among multiple users
*

Synchronize laptop data with a master database
*

Improve your customer relationships

Customer Reviews:

If You're Jumping Ship from ACT!, this is for you ! .......2007-08-28

Lon Ornstein might have co-authored a Dummies' book, but he's no dummy. His company is a well-known third-party developer of CRM enhancments - first with the ACT! product line and now Outlook 2007/BCM. Like all Dummies' books, this one is easy to read and understand, and gets right to the "meat" of using BCM. Highly recommended if you're trying to make the switch from ACT!, or if you need to extend the capabilities of Outlook 2007 for a small-midsize business.

Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design: The Dynamics of Fit (Information and Organization Design Series)

Average customer rating:

Strategic Organizational Diagnosis and Design: The Dynamics of Fit (Information and Organization Design Series)
Richard M. Burton , and Borge Obel
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402076843

Book Description

There are two very contrasting approaches to reading this book and learning about organizational design. The more traditional approach is to read the book, and then use the OrgCon on cases and applications. The second approach is to begin with the OrgCon software and only examine the book as you find it helpful. Which approach is better? It is your choice, not ours. In our experience, students in organizational design prefer to start with the OrgCon and a case, rather than with the book itself. Readers who have more background in organization theory and design usually examine the book first.

There are numerous changes in the third edition. The literature review in each chapter has been updated. The information processing approach is strengthened and applied more comprehensively as the theoretical underpinnings. Throughout we have rewritten the text beyond normal editing in an attempt to make the presentation clearer and easier to read.

Human Dynamics : A New Framework for Understanding People and Realizing the Potential in Our Organizations

Average customer rating:

A Proper Examination and Explanation of Human Action
Great book
improving teamwork in your organisation,family & community
A most complete study of human diversity.
A most complete study of human diversity.

Human Dynamics : A New Framework for Understanding People and Realizing the Potential in Our Organizations
Sandra Seagal
Manufacturer: Pegasus Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Conflict Survival Kit: Tools for Resolving Conflict at Work (NetEffect Series)
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter

ASIN: 1883823072
Release Date: 1997-07-01

Product Description

Based upon 17 years of ongoing research involving more than 40,000 people from over 25 cultures, extensively field-tested, and adopted internationally by Fortune 500 companies, Human Dynamics? is a developmental system that demystifies the complexities of how people function and interact with one another. Human Dynamics presents a powerful framework for understanding the distinct ways in which we process information, learn, communicate, relate with one another, manifest stress, maintain well-being, and develop as human beings. At the heart of Human Dynamics are the three universal principles we all share in different capacities--mental, emotional, and physical--fundamental threads that cross culture, age, race, and gender to unify us all. As we learn to appreciate our commonalities and differences, we can use our unique gifts and apply new understanding to enrich our relationships, heighten "collective intelligence", communicate more effectively, work together more productively, enhance creativity, optimize team learning, and strengthen organizational performance. Actual accounts from major companies including Intel Corporation, Intermountain Healthcare System, and London Life Insurance Company document how Human Dynamics can optimize business relationships, organizational learning, teamwork, and communication.

Customer Reviews:

A Proper Examination and Explanation of Human Action.......2001-01-24

If you have found most personality tests insignificant, unhelpful, or unrevealing, then perhaps this book is for you. Human Dynamics goes into much more depth and provides a greater understanding of human communication and actions than any simple personality test. While people can be placed into certain "dynamics," these dynamics are not nearly as restraining or stereotypical as personality tests tend to be. Rather than explaining one's personality, dynamics explain how groups of people tend to process information, not necessarily how aggressive, passive, or "likeable" they are. This book helped me in terms of personal discovery, and has also helped me understand why it always seemed that so many people "just never seemed to think like me."

Great book.......2000-07-09

Models to describe human personality are presented. Each model has it unique characteristics, its strengths and weaknesses. Each model will respond most effectively to certain modes of communications. This understanding of the different models presented will help a manager, a teacher, a student or just about anybody to understand themselves and people around them better. This will enable better communication of ideas and thoughts. Students will learn better and managers will be able to communicate more effectively with individuals. The models can be taken up to an organizational level. The applications of this book are far and wide. It is also simply and clearly written.

improving teamwork in your organisation,family & community.......1998-11-06

the first time that I have found an approach which looks at humans holistically and systemically. It is not a group of personality characteristics describing superficial behaviours, but a way of understanding and recognising internal processes particular to various human dynamics. It therefore goes much deeper than any other personality assessment technique I have seen and because of this can not be reduced to a paper and pencil test. However, the gift this approach brings is that it can be taught to everyday people and can provide access to better relationships and a greater understanding of how to release our judgement of others. A truly life changing book.

A most complete study of human diversity........1998-08-24

It is obvious that Dr. Seagal has worked extremely hard to confirm her research since 1979. Her style of writing is clear, concise and void of jargon. I found the content easy to absorb, understand and apply. Just the heightend awarness of how diverse we are has made a significant difference in how I work and related to people. I can see some real possibilities for applying in a business context.

A most complete study of human diversity........1998-08-14

It is obvious that Dr. Seagal has worked extremely hard to confirm her research since 1979. Her style of writing is clear, concise and void of jargon. I found the content easy to absorb, understand and apply. Just the heightened awarness of how diverse we are has made a significant difference in how I work and relate to people. I can understand why this work is being applied internationally, especially in business and education.

Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics (New Lexington Press Organization Sciences Series)

Average customer rating:

A true companion on the road to no-where
Constant Companion for Group Work
Aptly titled: This analysis is rife w/ incisive insights.

Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics (New Lexington Press Organization Sciences Series)
Kenwyn K. Smith , and David N. Berg
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 078793948X

Book Description

During the past decade, leaders have increasingly relied on self-managing work groups, multifunctional teams, and cross-national executive groups to create the organization of the future. Yet groups are not a panacea for organizational problems; conflicts between individuals or factions within a group often create seemingly contradictory situations?paradoxes?that can prevent the group from reaching its goals.

In this groundbreaking classic, Kenwyn Smith and David Berg offer a revolutionary approach to understanding groups and overcoming the problems that often paralyze group members, the group as a whole, and relations among groups. They explore the hidden dynamics that can prevent a group from functioning effectively. And they show how an apparently paradoxical suggestion?for example, inviting a success oriented group to risk failure, or affirming the benefits of going nowhere to a group focused on moving ahead?can break action barriers, overcome conflicts, and improve group performance.

Smith and Berg offer a different way of thinking about groups that will open new avenues of inquiry for professors and students of group behavior, and they propose many innovative ideas that will prove valuable to consultants, trainers, therapists, and others who work with groups on a regular basis.

Customer Reviews:

A true companion on the road to no-where.......2006-08-31

Smith and Berg have wrouth - written is too modest - a briljant insighful and wise guide tour behind the coulises of our lifes. It is the best guide book I know to the place you live in: the group. You can use it in almost every situation. They show how we are caught in our webs, our own frames of mind, our relational swamp. Such is life and it is getting sucher and sucher all the time.
I recommend this book to every one dealing with groups AND individuals, because there is no better way to start to understand what life ' is'.

Constant Companion for Group Work.......2002-05-21

This insightful book has accompanied me through grad school, two corporate reorganizations and numerous consulting projects. The authors have written an excellent text on the contradictory forces/movements endemic to group life. Their use of paradoxical thought as a lens for thinking about and successfully navigating the territory of group life is both practical and innovative. If you're looking for the usual book about conflict resolution, please look elsewhere. Smith and Berg advocate reclaiming rather than repressing or eliminating the fears and anxieties that define many aspects of group life. Their explanation of concepts such as group paralysis, oscillation, group-as-whole, splitting and individual ambivalence are clear and highly cogent when integrated into a paradoxical framework.

Aptly titled: This analysis is rife w/ incisive insights........2001-08-11

Paradoxes of Group Life is a masterful explication of the concepts its title announces. This readable volume will serve the newcomer to Group Dynamics as well as the more experienced cognoscenti. People are often fundamentally ambivalent about ourselves and our participation in groups. Smith & Berg explain these (often unconscious) dynamics with great clarity and force. Treat yourself to this compelling analysis. I highly recommend their important work!

Nonprofit Boards and Leadership: Cases on Governance, Change, and Board-Staff Dynamics (Jossey Bass Nonprofit & Public Management Series)

Average customer rating:

Nonprofit Boards and Leadership: Cases on Governance, Change, and Board-Staff Dynamics (Jossey Bass Nonprofit & Public Management Series)
Miriam M. Wood
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards
Boards That Make a Difference (J-B Carver Board Governance Series)

ASIN: 0787901393

Book Description

Offers detailed case studies that demonstrate the crucial strategic issues facing nonprofit governing boards and offers board members new methods for dealing with them.

Book Description

Chaos, catastrophe, self-organization, and complexity theories (nonlinear dynamics) now have practical and measurable roles in the functioning of work organizations. Managing Emergent Phenomena begins by describing how the concept of an organization has changed from a bureaucracy, to a humanistic and organic system, to a complex adaptive system. The dynamics concepts are then explained along with the most recent research methods for analyzing real data. Applications include: work motivation, personnel selection and turnover, creative thinking by individuals and groups, the development of social networks, coordination in work groups, the emergence of leaders, work performance in organizational hierarchies, economic problems that are relevant to organizations, techniques for predicting the future, and emergency management.

Each application begins with a tight summary of standard thinking on a subject, followed by the new insights that are afforded by nonlinear dynamics and the empirical data supporting those ideas. Unusual concepts are also encountered, such as the organizational unconscious, collective intelligence, and the revolt of the slaved variables. The net results are a new perspective on what is really important in organizational life, original insights on familiar experiences, and some clear signposts for the next generation of nonlinear social scientists.

Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Change in Organizations

Average customer rating:

A critical book to read if you want to understand the underpinnings of strategy

Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Change in Organizations
Constance E. Helfat , Sydney Finkelstein , Will Mitchell , Margaret A. Peteraf , Harbir Singh , David J. Teece , and Sidney G. Winter
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Organizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The Nature and Dynamics of Organizational Capabilities
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ASIN: 1405135751

Book Description

Creating, adapting to, and exploiting change is inherently entrepreneurial. To survive and prosper under conditions of change, firms must develop the ldquo;dynamic capabilitiesrdquo; to create, extend, and modify the ways in which they operate. The capacity of an organization to create, extend, or modify its resource base is vital. Since the concept of dynamic capabilities was first introduced, much research has elaborated the initial idea. This important book by Constance Helfat and her team of leading scholars provides a timely focus on in-depth examples of corporate dynamic capabilities. Testing these in the different contexts of alliances, acquisitions, and management, the book gives students and researchers a succinct, up-to-date definition of dynamic capabilities and the strategic management theories around them.

Customer Reviews:

A critical book to read if you want to understand the underpinnings of strategy.......2007-08-31

I may be the only person to write a review for this book, as its price is a little steep for the casual business book reader and this is not a casual business book.

Dynamic Capabilities is an academically based book, a collection of co-coordinated articles about the nature of capabilities in general and the capabilities that change capabilities (aka dynamic capabilities). As an academic book it is very strong with the authors tackling many of the major economic and corporate strategy issues involving why enterprises are designed and work in a particular way. From this perspective it is theory that is well researched, carefully and clearly explained.

Capabilities in general and dynamic capabilities in particular are critical for enterprises in devising and realizing their strategies and performance goals. In this regard, this book is a must read for corporate strategists and corporate development processionals who need to understand how to organize and structure the enterprise for success.

The articles in this book lay down the rational and logic for your leaders should view and organize their resources to achieve their strategies. I will admit that the language and the structure of the chapter/articles are geared more for researchers and students, but taking the time to read, understand and reflect on the implications of these research pieces is well worth the effort.

When Goliaths Clash: Managing Executive Conflict to Build a More Dynamic Organization

Average customer rating:

Packed With Knowledge!
Great advice for senior and middle managers
Practical, powerful, insightful
Pratical guide to deal with orginizational conflicts!
Insightful read for senior line, HR or OD executives

When Goliaths Clash: Managing Executive Conflict to Build a More Dynamic Organization
Howard M. Guttman
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful

ASIN: 0814407498

Book Description

Conflict in the executive ranks often snakes its way down to the trenches, polarizing entire organizations and undermining morale, productivity, and corporate goals. But managed correctly, the passion that powers these conflicts can be turned into a high-performance fuel that transforms not just executive relationships but the mechanics of the whole company.

When Goliaths Clash shows how to treat conflict as a business issue, achieve positive outcomes from divisive relationships, and identify the different sources of conflict, from assumptions, values, and wants, to stylistic clashes and organizational conditions.

The book combines real-world strategies drawn from the author's consulting experience with the results of a 10-year survey of more than 300 executive teams. Packed with examples from companies like Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Motorola, Phillip Morris, and more, this constructive book will help unlock horns -- and open the door to more productive relationships throughout entire organizations.

Customer Reviews:

Packed With Knowledge!.......2004-05-06

This book is built on the premise that a lot of companies have, metaphorically speaking, the head of a dead elephant sitting in their boardrooms. The dead elephant's head represents conflict, disagreement and rivalry between the executives themselves. No one wants to talk about the dead elephant's head, because no one wants to admit that it's there. Unfortunately, it's a big, ugly reality that must be addressed sooner or later, and everyone knows it. Author and consultant Howard M. Guttman maps out a process companies can use to deal more openly and honestly with internal conflicts. He begins with the premise that conflict isn't inherently bad and can even serve a productive purpose, if it's properly managed and conducted according to the rules. We strongly recommend this book to corporate executives - and to the worker bees who have to duck when those Goliaths in the corner offices start slinging rocks.

Great advice for senior and middle managers.......2003-05-20

When Goliaths Clash is full of great advice for managing confilict at the most senior levels of an organization. Since conflict is abundant at all levels in today's organization the same ideas can be applied to manage conflict at all levels. Gutman's advice to confront conflict, not avoid it, is valuable for all managers who want to move their organizations forward.

Practical, powerful, insightful.......2003-04-25

When Goliaths Clash was a practical and grounded guide to addressing issues prevalent in most leadership teams. Unlike other books of this nature, it was not academic or theoretical, but provided common sense advise on how leaders can identify and resolve problems that could be derailing their organization and preventing them from maximizing their effectiveness. I particularly liked the chapter on e mail; a new area of communication landmines and one that has actually exagerated the issues described in the book.

Pratical guide to deal with orginizational conflicts!.......2003-04-24

Great book! A structured insight into human behavior, different management styles and interactions in organizations. Describes real life situations and - more importantly - how to deal with them. Some very thought-full suggestions on how to interact with others at work as well as privately. A practical guide on organizational development and it's role to become more successful. Is easy to read and digest.

I'll certainly keep it close for reference when "Goliats clashes" in my company.

Insightful read for senior line, HR or OD executives.......2003-04-24

This book provides insight and understanding into the powerful dynamics of executive teams. The methodology, frameworks and practical tools are highly useful in creating a higher level of functioning for teams, starting at the top of the organization. Specific examples and case scenarios illustrate how these techniques have contributed to more fulfilling and productive work dynamics in several reknowned organizations. Focusing on the core skills of influencing and conflict resolution, as well as situational leadership, the book outlines a 'road map' for improving the effectiveness of senior teams and their individual players.

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